84 PHEASANTS FOR COVERTS AND AVIARIES. 



from the ground, and so keeping the birds away from the 

 cold damp soil during the night. The sloping arrangement 

 of these branches is advantageous to the birds, as all of them 

 have the flight feathers of one wing (not both) cut short ; 

 they are thus destitute of the power of flight, and consequently 

 inclined branches, up which they can walk and down which 

 they can descend without violence, are exceedingly useful. 

 These runs, open as they are, afford all the shelter required, 

 provided they are not placed on the north or east side of a 

 hill or rising ground. Their advantage over permanent 

 buildings is great; in the latter pheasants cannot be success- 

 fully reared, as the ground becomes tainted, epidemic disease 

 breaks out, and the soil also becomes charged with the ova of 

 the Syngamus trachealis, or gape worm, a parasite which often 

 causes great havoc amongst the young poults. Both of these 

 evils may be in great measure avoided by shifting the runs as 

 frequently as may be convenient. The runs may be made of 

 any size, so as to accommodate one cock and three or four 

 hens, or a larger number of birds. Care must be taken not 

 to have them too small, as the birds when closely confined, 

 often take to pecking one another's feathers an evil which 

 is occasionally carried on until the persecuted bird is killed. 

 When runs are made small, the ground very rapidly becomes 

 tainted, and the birds consequently diseased. The vigorous, 

 healthy aspect of the numerous birds I saw at these 

 pheasantries was evidently owing, in great part at least, to 

 the large size of the enclosures, and the fresh ground on to 

 which they are so frequently shifted. No nest-places are 

 made or required ; the hens generally drop their eggs about 

 at random, and they should be looked for and collected at 

 least twice a day. This is most important, as, if any eggs 

 are chipped or broken, the birds may acquire the bad habit of 

 pecking them, which is quickly acquired by all others in the 

 run, and will be found exceedingly difficult to eradicate. The 

 food employed is good sound barley, with a certain proportion 

 of buckwheat. This is varied by soft food consisting of meal, 



